Morning Show Blog

Christal's Country News - Thursday, March 13th

by Christal Blueposted Mar 13 2014 9:18AM

On Tuesday night, Trace Adkins gave a surprise performance at the Grand Ole Opry. It was Adkins' first public performance since his father passed away earlier this year. It was also the first time Trace had taken the Opry stage since he entered rehab following a setback in his longtime battle with alcoholism. During his Opry performance, Adkins teamed up with the band Exile for a performance of their 1978 number one hit "Kiss You All Over."

While Trace Adkins was backstage at the Grand Ole Opry on Tuesday night, he met up with another one of the performers that night – Josh Thompson. Thompson and Adkins posed a picture together and Josh took to Twitter to share the shot. The caption for the photo read, "Said hey to @TraceAdkins tonight at the @Opry!" The photo showed that Thompson had cut off his signature pony tail and was sporting a much shorter hairdo. (Photo Credit: https://twitter.com/TheJoshThompson)

The Band Perry will be featured in the photography at the Annenberg Space for Photography exhibition "Country: Portraits of an American Sound." The sibling trio is the only modern day country band included in the display, which will present images of the pioneers, poets and icons of country music. The exhibit will be offered free to the public May 31 through September 28 in Los Angeles. Some of the performers that will be featured in the exhibit are Johnny Cash, Dolly Parton, Keith Urban and Hank Williams.

The Academy of Country Music and ZinePak have announced the release of the Official 2014 ACM Awards ZinePak, a limited-edition package that spotlights some of biggest names in country music as well as some of its brightest new stars. The collection includes a 120-page magazine as well as two CDs featuring 31 songs. Disc One of the collection includes hit songs from top acts such as Luke Bryan, Miranda Lambert, Blake Shelton, George Strait and Taylor Swift while the second disc showcases 10 of country music's biggest rising stars. Some of the acts featured on the second disc include The Swon Brothers, Eric Paslay, Katie Armiger and Joel Crouse. The special ZinePak also includes a ballot with this year's ACM Awards nominees and six collectible guitar picks. The limited-edition package will be available at Walmart stores nationwide beginning on March 18 and will retail for $10. The release of the ZinePak leads up to the live broadcast of the 49th Annual Academy of Country Music Awards on April 6 at 8:00 PM ET CBS.